Homeowner Assistance
A variety of voluntary private and government-administered or supported programs were implemented during 2007-2009 to assist homeowners with case-by-case mortgage assistance, to mitigate the foreclosure crisis engulfing the U.S. Examples include the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, Hope Now Alliance, and Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan. These all operate under the paradigm of "one-at-a-time" or "case-by-case" loan modification, as opposed to automated or systemic loan modification. They typically offer incentives to various parties involved to help homeowners stay in their homes.
There are four primary variables that can be adjusted to lower monthly payments and help homeowners: 1) Reduce the interest rate; 2) Reduce the loan principal amount; 3) Extend the mortgage term, such as from 30 to 40 years; and 4) Convert variable-rate ARM mortgages to fixed-rate.
Read more about this topic: Subprime Mortgage Crisis Solutions Debate
Famous quotes containing the word assistance:
“But a problem occurs about nothing. For that from which something is made is a cause of the thing made from it; and, necessarily, every cause contributes some assistance to the effect’s existence.”
—Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109)